Waiting....../interview questions...

[serena]

I can't believe it's ONLY March 7th and I'm already stressing!

I know the only people who can understand me right now are fellow FVCers... or maybe I'm the only crazy one that can't picture waiting another few months to find out admission results!

This also got me thinking... if you DON'T get an interview, will you be emailed/have your webadvisor updated before everyone else or would you have to wait until the June deadline to find out FOR SURE if you didn't get in??

Only reason I ask is because one of the vets I work with got in to OVC without an interview so I'm wondering if she would have been major stressing not getting an interview email, or got early acceptance etc... (suppose I may have to ask her?)

Thanks in advance & good luck to everyone ;D

[aquavet]

I can relate to your stress. I was just stressing about the fact that maybe my documents didn't arrive on time, but I checked my webadvisor today and found out they had received my documents.

I don't have a definite answer to your question, but based on my memory of the forum interview invites from last year, all interviews were sent at once. So if this is true, then it would be safe (and sad) to say that if you weren't given an interview, you were denied.

Also, I think they've stopped the practice of giving admission without interview. Previously, it was awarded to only the top x% of applicants (based on marks), but for some reason they've changed it so that everyone must interview.

Good luck!

[dreizehn]

Per the admission's website, if you are selected for an interview you are contacted via your UofG e-mail address in April to interview sometime between May 6 to 10 (www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/recruitment/en/applyingtodvm/resources/ChecklistCanadianapplicants.pdf) (graduate students are handled differently, and they don't interview until June). In my experience, the interview notification was quite close to the interviews themselves (i.e., within a couple weeks, so it will likely be fairly late in April before people hear, unless they have sped things up this year). As aquavet said, I too believe all the interview notifications are sent out at the same time. So, it's safe to say that if you don't hear anything by interview time, you were not selected for an interview and will not proceed in the admission process this year. As for whether they send an e-mail, I don't actually know; WebAdvisor would be updated at some point but, again, I don't actually know when for those not selected for an interview.

I know how it sounds (I've been where you are now), but honestly the best advice I can offer is to put it out of your mind and focus on other things in the time being. You've done everything you can to this point, and this stage of the process is out of your hands, so try not to worry about the final result.


I believe admittance without an interview was done away with when they moved to the MMI format of interviews. I can think of MANY reasons why this would have been done, but I think top among them would be that marks are NOT everything: there is FAR more that goes into becoming a good vet than simply being capable of getting good grades in undergrad, and, as such, marks only go so far in their ability to select good candidates. I think this is also seen in the increase in the weighting of the interview (now 35%), reflecting its importance in selecting for the types of soft-skills that are essential in the profession (which were identified by current veterinarians). More close to home, I'm sure most people have encountered at least one person in their undergrad career that was tops when it came to marks, but severely lacking when it came to the soft-skills department. As for OVC, I believe there have been applicants in previous years with some of the highest marks in the applicant pool who were NOT offered admission because of the other portions of their application.

I think the key importance of the interview process for ALL applicants is given on the admissions web site: (www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/recruitment/en/applyingtodvm/selectionprocess.asp)

The non-academic skills assessed by the MMI reflect the educational goals and objectives of OVC as well as the skills identified by the veterinary profession in Ontario as being necessary for a successful career.

• A candidate’s ability to think on their feet, communicate opinions and ideas, critically appraise information, and demonstrate advanced thought/knowledge of the issues facing the profession.
  
  
• Ethical Behaviour, Empathy, Judgment, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal Management Skills...Communications skills.

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[ratshark]

Speaking of stressing about documents not being received, I have a question.
I sent out a transcript containing my complete undergrad work in November through OUAC (I am applying as an undergrad). I am currently in a masters program and I completed a course in the fall semester of 2012. So I sent out a new transcript containing my masters course grade and my undergrad work (again). It still hasn't appeared on Webadvisor that they received the second transcript, even though according to my calculations it should have been 3 weeks already. I'm worried that it got lost in the mail somehow. Normally, I wouldn't worry about this situation, except that Deanna said that transcripts received through OUAC are fine as long as they contain ALL my academic work up to and including Fall 2012, which would mean my graduate course. I'm not sure what to make of this though. Considering that I am applying in the undergrad cohort, I don't see what difference it would make for the admissions to see my graduate course work. Would this affect my application?

[lowenger]

Ratshark unless you are applying to the grad cohort your grad career is not looked at at all.

[Kerrie]

It's interesting to hear that high marks aren't everything--I just heard an OVC prof say that they only use your 'soft skills' to distinguish you from other applicants with high marks i.e. here are a bunch of people with 85%, how are we now going to separate out who we're taking and who we're not... unless I misunderstood?

I thought your BIF, etc. were only used as 'flags'--I don't understand how any applicants who have under the 85% mark are ever accepted.... Does anyone know?

Thanks!!

[dreizehn]

Are marks important? Most definitely: They form the initial ranking that determines who gets an interview, and subsequently directly form 65% of the final ranking score.

Are soft skills important? Most definitely: Aside from needing them for your BIF, experience, and references, as well as the ultimate goal of a successful career, they are assessed in the interview stage and directly form 35% of the final ranking score (for those reaching the interview stage).

So: are marks important? Yes. Are they everything? No.

Part of the issue with talk around the admission process is that essentially everyone has heard numerous rumours and thoughts on the process from various sources, and many of those people are not actually directly involved in the details of the admissions process, or may have an outdated understanding of the process. I am of course including myself in the first part of that: I'm not privy to any official details of the admissions process (or at least not of the kind that I'm free to comment on), and the advice I can give is merely gathered from the experience of others, as well as my own, in going through the process.

With that said, I stand by my comment that marks definitely aren't everything. Aside from the more practical fact that solid soft skills are a necessity for a successful career in veterinary medicine, their importance is given in the admissions process, for which the interview score (i.e., assessing soft skills only) counts directly for 35% (as of last year's split). So, for all those reaching the interview stage, the assessment of soft skills forms a direct component of the admission score that determines who is admitted (i.e., not just a tie breaker).

Now, it is true that it is indeed only academics (MCAT, pre-reqs, last two semesters) forming the score that ranks people into the top 200 or so that are selected to proceed to interview. At least as far as I'm aware, your other soft-skill assessments (e.g., BIF, experience, references) don't come into this directly, save for potentially as flags if there were a serious deficiency.

With the combination of MCAT scores, 8 pre-requisite course grades, and two full-time semester grades (i.e., minimum 10 courses usually), plus interview scores once that stage is reached, I would say the chances of actually having a perfect tie for the last interview/admission slot are already quite low. Were a perfect tie to occur for the last slot, I'm not positive as to how this is resolved, and I don't think it is obvious anywhere on the admissions web site. But here's another of those "rumours": I seem to remember hearing/reading somewhere that were a perfect tie for the last slot to occur at the interview stage, both those applicants might be interviewed. Going through the previous admissions stats, there is some flexibility in the number of people interviewed (i.e., it's approximately but not always exactly 200).

As for how applicants with an average under 85-87% (i.e., the average for admitted applicants' pre-reqs and last two semesters over the last few years) are ever admitted, a large part of that is simply because the scores for the applicant pool form a distribution, so there are naturally people with scores both above and below the average that are admitted. As such, there are definitely people admitted with low 80s (maybe even some (though far fewer) people with high seventies, depending on the applicant pool that year). Naturally, the lower one's average is below that of the pool as a whole, the less likely one is to get an interview or subsequently be admitted, but there is no hard cut-off grade.

[kerrie]

thank you so much! i appreciate your efforts in answering that!

[lowenger]

Watch your webadvisor NEXT WEEK for more info on interviews.

[dreizehn]

Man, I'm not even applying this year and I'm excited. ;D

[fsc23]

[cbarne01]

Ms. Lowenger,
I really appreciate that you keep us informed here and answer questions when you can (and dreizehn too).

[Guest01]

On WebAdvisor where should we check next week? Will it be under "Admission Status" and say something along the lines of "declined" or "pending interview"?

Thanks!

[jjw]

Hi, I know from the OVC website that interviews are in may, but does anyone know when in may? Beginning of may? Or end of may?

[Guest01]

Unless the dates have changed the interviews should be held from May 6-10th last I read. I don't know where to locate this information on the "new" OVC site, but you can still access the old site and find the information on there.

[dreizehn]

Three things to address:

• Firstly, I need to add an amendment to my second-last post where I wrote: "...there is no hard cut-off grade." In going over the admissions page for another post, I have just noted this line:

  "Please note that the GPA from your last two full-time semesters, and the average from your 8 prerequisite courses must both be 75% or higher in order for you to be considered further for entry to the DVM program." (all emphasis mine) (This is the last statement in the "University" section: www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/recruitment/en/applyingtodvm/Academicrequirements.asp)

  I don't recall this condition existing (or at least not being openly stated on the admission site) when I applied, hence my previous statement. Regardless, so long as you have a minimum average of 75% in both of these areas, you are eligible to be considered for interview and then admission, the likelihood of which still depends on the stats for the applicant pool in that year.
  
  
  
• Secondly, per the "Checklist for Canadian Applicants" available on the admissions web site:

  "Should you be selected for an interview, you will be contacted by email in April regarding an interview in May." (all emphasis mine) (www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/recruitment/en/applyingtodvm/resources/ChecklistCanadianapplicants.pdf)

  We also got e-mails inviting to interview in my year, so I'd be waiting for an e-mail in your GryphMail account (i.e., all UofG students should already know what this is, but for any external students: this is the account that was assigned to you when you applied, which you were likely informed of in the initial letter you got from UofG admissions way back when you first submitted your application). I don't recall any change in my WebAdvisor status after being selected for interview (i.e., I think it still just said something along the lines of "Application Received"), but this could have changed for this year.
  
  As for those not selected for interview: I'm not sure how they are informed. I would think they would still get an e-mail or, failing that, I guess could at least assume they were not selected if, after next week, they haven't received an e-mail inviting them to interview (and it's been confirmed those selected have). I'm guessing their WebAdvisor "Admission Status" would also be updated eventually to reflect they will not be continuing in the admissions process, so something along the lines of "Application refused" or "Admission refused."
  
  
  
• Finally, the 2013 MMIs are indeed May 6-10. There are five time slots each day (along the lines of 8-10, 10-12, 12-2, 2-4, 4-6), for which I believe the first 30 minutes are for applicant arrival, registration, orientation, etc., and the remaining 90 minutes is for the 80 minutes of MMIs with a 10 minute buffer. Those selected for interview are informed of their assigned day and time, and given further official details. (I also don't see this on the new web site, but it is given on the old web site: www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/future/dvm/admissions/non-academic/#Interview. These are also the dates for which the interviewers are being recruited.)
  

[lowenger]

Thanks for pointing that out- I've put it on the new website.

[stormoc]

It is the middle of exams for a lot of us and I know I'm dying of stress waiting. Would someone be able to give a heads-up once all interview invitations have been sent out please?

[tinker]

Does anyone know when grad applicants hear back about interview invitations? I thought I remembered reading somewhere that it won't be until May but now I can't find it on the website.

[guest1111]

I really want to know when we will be hearing about our interview dates!
I'm checking my e-mail every 5 minutes!!